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Saint Isaac's Cathedral and Monument to Nicholas I

Photo © Lina Groza 2023

Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor is a large architectural landmark cathedral that currently functions as a museum with occasional church services in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint.

The neoclassical exterior expresses the traditional Russian-Byzantine formula of a Greek-cross ground plan with a large central dome and four subsidiary domes.

The Monument to Nicholas I is a bronze equestrian monument of Nicholas I of Russia on St Isaac's Square (in front of Saint Isaac's Cathedral) in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was created by French sculptor Auguste de Montferrand and unveiled on July 7 [O.S. June 25] , 1859, the six-meter statue was considered a technical wonder at the time of its creation. It is one of only a few bronze statues with only two support points (the rear hooves of the horse).

The Neo-Baroque monument to the Russian ruler Nicholas I was designed by the French-born architect Auguste de Montferrand in 1856. When he planned the registration of Saint Isaac's Square, the uniform architectural ensembles of the Palace Square (in 1843) and the Senate Square had already been finished (in 1849). Monuments to the emperors Peter I and Alexander I dominated these squares. By tradition, de Montferrand intended to construct a monument on the new site, to unite the buildings of different architectural styles already there.

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Uploaded on September 26, 2023
Taken on July 13, 2023